The Odyssey is sailing up the charts with a record-shattering debut.
Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming film, The Odyssey, is based on Homer’s classic poem. Matt Damon stars as Odysseus, and the movie features a large cast including Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron, and Robert Pattinson. Excitement for the film, set to release on July 17, 2026, is incredibly high – it’s already sold out over a dozen IMAX showings a year in advance! Experts predict it will be Nolan’s biggest opening weekend for any film that isn’t a Batman movie, trailing only The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises.
Christopher Nolan’s new film, The Odyssey, is off to an incredible start! As of Sunday morning, it’s projected to earn $264.1 million worldwide this weekend – $124.5 million domestically and $139.6 million internationally, according to Deadline. This is Nolan’s biggest global opening ever, surpassing the debuts of The Dark Knight Rises ($249 million), The Dark Knight ($198 million), and even his recent hit Oppenheimer ($180 million).
This film had the second-largest international opening weekend ever for a movie with an R rating. Only Deadpool & Wolverine earned more internationally with $233.3 million, and domestically with $211.4 million, ultimately grossing $1.338 billion worldwide – making it the 23rd highest-grossing film of all time and the top-earning R-rated movie ever.
Christopher Nolan’s new film, The Odyssey, has quickly become a massive success at the 2026 box office. In just three days, it’s already become one of the year’s highest-grossing movies, surpassing the total worldwide earnings of several major releases. These include Wuthering Heights ($241.7 million), Disclosure Day ($233.7 million) directed by Steven Spielberg, Scream 7 ($208 million), The Sheep Detectives ($130.6 million), Mortal Kombat II ($129.5 million), Send Help ($94 million), and Reminders of Him ($89.1 million).
With a reported budget of $250 million, Odyssey needed a successful international debut to perform well at the box office. Films with such large budgets typically need to earn around two and a half times their cost just to break even, meaning Odyssey likely needs to make around $625 million worldwide to be considered profitable.
Considering its strong start, The Odyssey is expected to easily reach that milestone and even exceed it. It might follow a similar path as Deadpool & Wolverine, especially since early audience scores on Rotten Tomatoes (97%) are higher than those for the Marvel film (94%). If so, The Odyssey could potentially earn $775 million or more worldwide before its theatrical run ends.
Despite this, The Odyssey still has the potential to become a massive success, possibly earning over $1 billion at the box office. Christopher Nolan’s previous films like The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Oppenheimer (which nearly reached $1 billion) have proven his movies can perform exceptionally well in theaters, especially with premium large format screenings. The film also benefits from a lack of major new releases this weekend, giving it an uninterrupted opportunity to earn money until Spider-Man: Brand New Day comes out.
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2026-07-19 18:41